Galatians 4:1-7 ABBA, FATHER Childhood for some favored people can be a very sweet time. To have a child of promise was a blessing Abraham had to grasp by the principle of faith because both he and Sarah were well past childbearing years when Isaac was born. But Abraham's promised seed came, and from the One Seed came to us the blessing of eternal life. By way of illustration, Paul sought to explain to the Galatians what they had received from God and what they were going back to when they responded to false teachers. It is always a good exercise of the soul for us to occasionally be reminded of what we were in our sins and who we are now.
In childhood, we have to be told what to do and what not to do; what is right and what is not right. Child training is a good thing for us as it clarifies the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. We have to be told the same as a servant is told who seeks to please his master. The law did that for us and in that way, the purpose for which it was given has been accomplished. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." "The law is our schoolmaster..." If a child remains childlike, even though the physical growth process brings physical maturity, there is something wrong with that person. A child in a man's body is cause for concern and pity. A believer in Christ who remains in the same childish or childlike condition in relation to spiritual growth is a person we pity and wonder what spiritual malady a person is suffering.
One who is still trying to do what Christ has already done is spiritually sick. The religious world has many entrapments that can stop our growth in Christ which is expected of a normal child of God. It can start very young because man's attraction to the physical elements of the world carries over into religious activity as well. Just because a person and/or religion attaches the name of God to some form or action they choose to carry out, does not make it right. Infant baptism with god-parents taking responsibility for a child and all the ceremony that goes with that does not make it right. The confirmation process, elaborate buildings, beautiful music, and religious entertainment are still part of the world principle that attracts people. There are bonds that people choose to put on themselves and others, that appeal to our religious flesh the same as the claims that bind the ungodly who know nothing of God's grace. When we have tasted and experienced the blessings of salvation by grace through faith, how strange, how unnatural it is for a Christian to go back to the "elements of the world." That is what things were like for the Galatian believers before they heard and received the Gospel.
Deliverance from that bondage was why the "Father sent the Son." There was slavery to the law and its demands before Christ came. When a new life begins by putting our faith in Christ, a spiritual relationship is formed with God that "removes all guilt and fear, and love begets." This intimate relationship is that of Father and Son, so we don't have to be afraid of God anymore. This relationship is not formed and maintained by religious trappings that deceive us by basing our "Christian life" on feelings. Our relationship with God has been established on a personal, intimate connection made by two persons. God made His move toward us when He "sent forth His Son."
Just at the most appropriate time, Jesus came into this world. He came to "seek and to save the lost." He came "to fulfill all righteousness." He came to deliver us from this present evil world;" "to defeat the works of the devil;" and "to bring us to God." There were many reasons behind His coming, but one of the most significant was "that we might receive the adoption of sons." The Jews had been looking for the Messiah to come, and "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." A few faithful people like Simeon and Anna and "those that looked for Him," rejoiced, but most would not accept Him by faith. They wanted a conquering Messiah. They wanted a ruler who would exalt them and free them from the bondage of Rome. The bondage of the law was not considered a bondage but a duty. God knows our limitations and does not demand from us that which is impossible but He does have the right to expect an honest evaluation of our feeble inability to please Him. On that basis, we will turn to Him for mercy and there we will find the grace we need.
The grace that led the Lord Jesus Christ to "be found in fashion as a man," was even more than condescending grace on His part. It was with the purpose of lifting us up into a family relationship with the Father and making us joint heirs with Christ. This does not only have to do with what we have been delivered from, but what we have received - "the adoption of sons." Like a servant who has been publicly identified as a son in times past, we have been delivered from the law and made sons. The Lord Jesus came as an obedient son to His Father to pay the redemption price for us so that we too could be "made sons." Through this act of the Lord Jesus, a family relationship with God has been established.
This is not done exactly in the same way as when a slave-owner would adopt a slave into his family as a son, by saying publicly before the people, "Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee." But in the same way, a former slave took his place as a son with all the rights and privileges of sonship, so we say in return to our heavenly Father, "Thank you for making me a son. You are my Father." The former relationship is done. A new relationship between the same persons has taken place. What happens when we are saved is God puts a new nature within us. We respond with the voice of faith, "Abba Father," because the Holy Spirit has made us alive in Christ to God. It is a natural response to our gracious God to worship with gratitude and words of faith. This response is true of every believer.
But there came to the Christians in Galatia a very strange response to the teaching of false brethren. They stepped back to the bondage of law-keeping they had left. There was no logical reason for that reversal. However, an explanation may be made that after a person has been saved by grace, they become conscious of the fact they are still the same person. There are attractions that appeal to our fleshly desires. If a new believer does not immediately take steps to feed the new nature with divine things, the bring glow of faith we had when first saved fades and gradually grows dim. To fill the empty space, that lack of spiritual food leaves a void. and people look for exciting emotional experiences to take the place of unmet spiritual hunger. That is why the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers appealed to the immature Galatians. When we neglect the need of our souls, it is easy to fall into the temptation to take what others say to meet our own needs. Then a freed person entangles themselves in bondage again.